Last semester over 30 Green Team captains representing departments ranging from the College of Dentistry to the UF Police Department came together to discuss sustainability initiatives that they are implementing in their departments. One of the themes of the meeting was building communication and collaboration with other Green Teams and the Office of Sustainability. This meeting was the largest gathering to date of the nascent Green Team network and demonstrated the growing enthusiasm that UF’s staff and faculty have for transforming their university into a sustainable campus. The meeting was also an opportunity for Jason Fults, the newly-hired Green Team Project Manager, to meet the captains face-to-face and to learn more about the challenges and successes that their respective teams have experienced.This semester there are some exciting plans afoot for the Green Team network, including a “Sustainable Solutions Awards Program” and a pilot energy conservation campaign in Tigert Hall that will enlist Green Teams in deploying best practices in energy conservation behaviors. If successful, this project could serve as a model for other administrative buildings on campus.
There are currently more than sixty Green Teams working across campus to reduce waste and resource consumption. These groups are at the forefront of developing sustainable solutions for UF through the implementation of sustainable best practices in their departments and throughout the campus community. To learn more about the Green Team network, visit our Google Group. If you’d like to get involved, contact Jason Fults at Jason@ufl.edu or 392-7578, ext. 34.
